<< Background >>Even before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Commission had indicated the need to speed up the transition of the Union's economic and social system towards two major objectives: environmental sustainability and social inclusion (E.C. in European Green Deal – EU's Industrial Strategy for a Clean and Circular Economy; A strong social Europe for just transitions-Commission’s COMMUNICATION TO E.P. on 12-2019/1-2020). These perspectives have been reaffirmed and strengthened by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (R.R.F.), the ambitious Plan of EU Commission (see the Political Agreement 18 Dec. 2020) that rests precisely on the assumption of a deep transformation: the resources will be allocated to MSs with a clear engagement in the two areas mentioned above. So, companies must be ready for the challenge. In the light of these considerations, this proposal is linked to the need to support the transformation of the European economic and social system. In the knowledge that Member States experience different situations (as will be extensively described in the following boxes), the project aims to support the elaboration of the Benefit Corporation business model, indicating by this comprehensive definition a business model which combines the goal of profit with the purpose of creating a positive impact for society and the environment (see for example: A. Friederik, Putting Benefit Corporation Statutes into Context by Putting Context into the Statutes, in Business Lawyer. Winter 2020/2021, Vol. 76 Issue 1, p109-150).The BCs operate in a transparent, responsible and sustainable way. In order to become BC, a company have to amend its articles of association, including in the object clause the aims of common benefit that it intends to pursue. This means that the company will not only pursue the profit, but also the specific purposes of common benefit that it has inserted in its articles of association. The pandemic showed us clearly what a BC can be: for example, BCs are those that produce or offer fundamental services for the community, such as the health masks. So, they are not only large companies, but also Small and Medium Enterprise. The Benefit Corporation can be placed at the crossroads between the for-profit and the non-profit: it is neither a social enterprise nor a non-profit organisation, but rather an evolution of for-profit business to take on the challenges announced from the European Commision and bring about common benefits for society and the environment. Until recently, the idea of a for-profit company pursuing social good at the expense of shareholder value had no clear protection under European corporate law, and certainly no mandate. Companies that believe there are more important goals than maximizing shareholder value have been at odds with the expectation that for-profit companies must exist ultimately for profit above all (see for example: N. Kurland, ESOP Plus Benefit Corporation: Ownership Culture with Benefit Accountability, California Management Review. Summer2018, Vol. 60 Issue 4, p51-73.). The transformation towards the new business model of Benefit Corporations can be achieved only through a deep evolution of Human Resources. However, while the skills and abilities of management roles are already being updated (e.g. see the synergies between Academia and Business that will be strengthened thanks to Horizon Europe), there is no adequate plan for training and updating the professional figures who will have to implement the transformation within companies (see for example T. Hogart, Skills for the labour market: EU Policies for VET and upskilling, European Parliement, IPOL- Policy Departement of Economic Scientific and Quality Life Policy- Sept. 2019).<< Objectives >>GENERAL OBJECTIVEThe project aims at developing the ‘Operation Specialist for Benefit Corporations’ Curriculum and linked training course within the context of the EQF and related processes for ECVET. The project intends transfer knowledge, skills and abilities to enable learners to work within a Benefit Corporation with operational tasks. The Course is addressed to vet learners and job seekers with EQF 4/5 qualification levels.This general objective responds to the key need outlined by the S4BC Consortium Organisations behind the proposal: to foster the cultural transformation of European business models through vocational training and skills upgrading actions.In order to achieve the general objective, responding to the general need identified at the basis of the proposal, the following specific objectives are identified:-Outlining the features of Benefit Corporation Model at States and European level in order to make Benefit Corporation a key player in the European economic and social system;-Defining the gaps of skills needed by the Benefit Corporation (with a focus on the operational dimension);-Sharing a methodology for building a vocational training path and related curriculum for Operation Specialist for Benefit Corporation;-Developing a Curriculum and related VET training path for Operation Specialist for Benefit Corporation; -Developing tools and teaching materials for the training course in Operation Specialist for BC;-Developing an 'Exploitation Strategy' to spread the Curriculum in O.S. for BC and related training path in EU dimension.<< Implementation >>Activities that will be implemented producing tangible results towards the achievement of the S4BC Project objectives:- ‘Analysis of Benefit Corporations evolution and fine tuning of training needs map’ (‘Production of Project Result n. 1’ led by Kaunas STP);- ‘Development of ‘Operation Specialist for BCs’ Curriculum and related vocational training course’ (‘Production of Project Result n. 2’ led by C.L. Adult Education and Training);- ‘Piloting and ‘Exploitation Strategy of new ‘Operation Specialist for BCs’ qualification’ (Production of Project Result n. 3 led by FCSVM; the Pilot Test is scheduled only in Italy and Portugal). -1 Internationalisation Strategy: plan closely related to the Exploitation Strategy (see the activity of P.of P.R. n. 3) led by ITE Network.- A ‘Short-term joint staff training events’ (the activity will take place during the Pilot Test of the Operation Specialist for BCs vocational training course and it will provide opportunities for tutors from the 6 VET Partners of S4BC to cooperate in training course and joint teaching activities with their peers. -5 Multiplier Events (one in each Participant Country). The following cross-cutting activities complete the activity plan:-1 Communication and Dissemination Plan for beneficiaries, target groups and all stakeholders led by ITE-Network;-1 Evaluation and monitoring Plan (led by MANRA).-1 Quality Plan: Quality Assurance of the S4BC project and its results is entrusted to the lead partner FCSVM.<< Results >>At the Outcomes level, it is expected that the project, thanks to the planned training actions, will generate a change in the corporate culture towards the Commission's objectives .Expected project results are:1)Analysis (and Workshop) on Benefit Corporation Model at EU level and a training needs map. The analysis aimed at examining how the BCs can become European key players following the European Commission Policies. The Document will contain: at macroeconomic level, a list of potential and positive spin-offs in line with the E.C. Policies; at educational level: a review of best practices and educational gaps of BCs.2) Training Course and related Curriculum of Operation Specialist for BCs: a Training Course consistent with ECVET System organized in Training Units and divided into Modules. Each T.U. will contain the training objectives and the minimum duration. From the methodological point of view, the training course will comprise indications on the knowledge, skills and abilities that each participant must acquire. The course will also include precise prescription on assessment of learning and related evaluation system. This comprehensive ECVET approach, based around developing and piloting units, learning aims and assessment criteria for the new qualification, is adapted to the local and national contexts within the partner countries. This will include engaging with the European Qualification Framework and the relevant National/Regional/Sectorial Qualification Frameworks to facilitate shared national and European level recognition of the qualification and support credit transfer between learners and VET institutions in the partner countries.In terms of training provision, although the contents will be the specific subject of the project activities, the Course will cover the follow 5 areas: a) Business organization of BC; b) Technical aspects of BC: implementation (with an outcomes-based approach), monitoring and impact evaluation;c) Legal aspects: juridical framework and quality standards.d) Strategic aspects of BCs: environmental sustainability and social inclusion, profiles and scenarios;e) European and International dimension: development of BC model at EU level and internationalisation of Operation Specialist for BCs.3)A clear and multimodal tools and teaching materials for Operation Specialist for BCs in 5 EU languages.4) 2 Pilot Tests with 30 participants (15 in PT,15 in IT);5)'Exploitation Strategy' to spread the Operation Specialist for BCs at EU level. In addiction: Internationalisation Strategy closely related to the Exploitation Strategy Linked to the main results, are expected:-Supporting VET learners within the ECvet system/increasing the transparency of the skills acquired;-Increasing VET local offer;-Increasing consistency between training needs and professional growth paths (reduction of mismatching);-Supporting the declination of the role of the Operation Specialist for BCs at national level;In addition to all of the above, the partners have developed a more complete Timeline with detailedinformation about activity, its responsible partner and providing information on the tasks to be carried out (job definition, competency analysis, translation, publication), taking into account the experience of partners. The document will also serve as an effective Project Management tool for partners to ensure that Milestones are reached on time. The timeline also shows the other project results:-1LTTA in order to train 14 Vocational Trainers; -1Communication & Dissemination Plan for beneficiaries, target groups and all stakeholders; -5M.Es. relevant for beneficiaries, target groups and all stakeholders;1-Evalutaion &Monitoring Plan

Conspiracy theories, misinformation and extremism online is a growing concern to governments. Extreme political narratives have been rising across Europe and these narratives influence mainstream political discourses and policies. This is having a direct impact on perceptions of democratic institutions, trust in science, and leads to calls for direct action (Jan 6th incursion in USA) to overthrow or disrupt democratically elected governments. Those in middle age (45-65) may be both susceptible to extremist narratives and also influential as decision-makers. This group is under-researched, but the impact of them being drawn into extremist content may have significant consequences on political discourse, democratic processes and institutions. SMIDGE will analyse the various forms of extremist discourses and narratives across Europe through social network analysis, textual and content analysis of extremist discourse, and will consider national and demographic specifics through survey, focus groups and interviews in 6 countries (UK, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Kosovo, Cyprus). From this in-depth examination of the current state of the art, SMIDGE will produce counter-narratives, education and training resources aimed at promoting reflexivity, alongside multi-level policy recommendations and evidence-based tools and training for journalists and security professionals. The counter-content will be created through collaboration with stakeholders during co-creation exercises in the focus groups. SMIDGE takes the theory of responsible research and innovation (RRI) as its core conceptual approach to ensure that the project adheres to the highest ethical and quality standards. The outputs from SMIDGE will provide evidence-based content, tools and resources that will directly help to counter extremist narratives from multiple perspectives, thereby providing greater understanding of the specificities and characteristics of those in middle-age and their vulnerability to extremism online.

The ASAP Project was addressed to design and experiment appropriate Curricula for supporting the passage from physical to digital production in the publishing sector. The first step was addressed to map the new needed skills and competences as a basis for the creation of the curricula, showing the specific challenges on:• definition of the anticipated short and medium term changes and the new trends and best practices in education and training for the Publishing Sector• implementation of a link between the skills needs/competences gaps and the learning outcomes.Taking into account the impact of the changes in the competences and skills, the following phase of the ASAP project proposed an evolutionary map of the skill needs and designed and delivered flexible training programmes (one for each area of the publishing supply chain) that, according to EQF/ECVET standards, have provided employees, but also unemployed, self-employed, low skilled employees and young VET students the opportunity to update their professional skills and knowledge covering the gap related to the lack of specific skills determined by the “digital revolution”.In particular, the programme is composed of 5 specific professional profiles of the publishing sector (Specialist in production, Specialist in Design, Editor, Specialist in Marketing and Sales, Specialist in Publicity and Communication), one for each step of the publishing supply chain (Production - Design - Editorial - Marketing and publicity - Distribution and sales). A transversal module was developed with the goal of introducing the main innovation of the publishing sector. The profiles are indeed declined in Learning Units and ECVET points are attributed. For each occupational profile the “more innovative” unit is developed into the ASAP MOOC (Massive Open Online Platform); this way the ASAP project gives also the opportunity to attain the course entirely on line.The ASAP consortium believed that workers of the publishing sector who wish to successfully transform themselves into digital skills experts must learn to leverage their existing brand and professional approach considering the new digital channels, and to reduce their traditionally heavy dependence on the traditional skills and competences. So, the idea behind the work done is to support a step-by-step transformation and to lead the learners through a path of improvement where at the beginning they would seek for a fulfilment of their specific needs and at the end they would be ready to face the labor market with updated and new acquired skills. The project promoted a wide cooperation among the different stakeholders using a participatory portal and the MOOC for making the contents at the disposal of a massive target group (it can become the first MOOC of the Publishing Sector), also after the formal end of the project.In the MOOC, each unit is composed by: •Video Lessons (mother tongue video, one for each profile) = minimum 01:00 hour • Reading Materials = at least 30 (10 for each learning outcomes)• Other Videos / Reference materials = at least 30 (at least 10 for each Learning Outcome)• Tasks = at least 12 (4 for each learning outcome)• Assessment exams = Assessment exams = at least 45 quizzes for the assessment of each Unit (for a profile 180 quizzes)All these materials are produced in original, in all partners languages and for all the 5 professional profiles.A wide piloting has been conducted with 1082 learnersFinally a Memorandum of Understanding was signed among the VET partners through which they agree to: - formalise the ECVET partnership by stating the mutual acceptance of the procedures for assessing competences coherently within the ASAP model - define the procedures under which credits, in partner systems, can be achieved and recognized - design specific arrangements for credit transfer for learners for each specific mobility period- continue the LO Units Testing.

The ABC (Anti-Bullying Certification) project aimed to develop a certification process to support high schools in developing an effective antibullying policy. The developed certification procedure is not just a “check” of written antibullying procedures but also contains an interactive needs assessment during which students and teachers get the chance to codevelop the improved antibullying policy. The main aim of this certification process is not to prescribe best practices to the school but to enhance ownership and making own choices in an appropriate school policy. When the project started we had seven partners. EAN, the European Antibullying Network was the “nest” from which the project idea developed and this international federation of NGOs and schools is also responsible for the sustainability of the certification. The six other partners each worked with one or two schools in their own country to experiment with the development of the certification process. Halfway the project, we discovered that the schools needed to be full prayer partners to be eligible for the travel costs and we filed an amendment to make this so. At the end of the project we had 11 partners. Some of the schools did not register a formal partner.Like we planned in their proposal, the certification consists of four products: 1. A manual for the process2. Quantitative needs assessment surveys for students and teachers3. A guide for a qualitative needs assessment by students and teachers (a student “visitation” and a teacher workshop; later called “reviews”)4. A toolkit with an overview of possible antibullying interventionsWith the help of the 5 original NGO partners, the 10 schools experimented with the procedure in the school years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. In 2018 and 2019 we also organized to elaborate school exchanges, in which we combined student and teacher meetings in order to stimulate open communication between students and teachers. During this experimentation we encountered a number of challenges. One challenge was that schools had very little knowledge about what works to make an effective antibullying policy. The international exchanges, teacher workshops, products and newsletters were used to increase his knowledge. Another challenge was the idea of certification. We discovered that we could not develop a formal ISO-certification because the partnership did not have a partner that is certified to grant such certificates. EAN approached a formal ISO-certification institute to attempt to develop this in addition to the ABC-project. A connected challenge was that we had discussion about if and how we wanted to score schools on the quality of their antibullying policy, and if we would do that, which criteria would be chosen to score schools on. These challenges were not completely resolved because partners disagreed on the need for scoring and on the quality criteria. It was decided to focus the final products on a self-assessment, and procedural document which outlines criteria and offers a tentative scoring list, but ultimately to leave the scoring to the self-evaluation of the schools. To sustain the results, the project intended to create a discussion with local, national and European stakeholders about the need to raise the quality of antibullying policy of high schools. From our needs assessments of the European situation in the national contexts, it became clear that the needs and possibilities for such policy improvement or discussion about improvement varied in each country. Still, the broad dissemination of the project and the discussions in the final phase of the project created a wide interest. This was despite the fact that we could not organize the final school exchange and meetings with politicians in Brussels, and six of the seven multiplier meetings due to limitations of the COVID-19 measures. As far as we could, we replaced those life meetings with online events and activities.EAN was provided with a manual on how to create a franchise system, in which certification or school self-evaluation trainers could be trained and equality of this work monitored. The project also delivered the training manual for such consultants. At the end of the project, we did an impact evaluation survey among participants, our stakeholders and interested persons. This evaluation showed that the self-evaluation products we developed created great interest. To our surprise, the participants in the project had become so confident in that the self-evaluation results in an improved antibullying policy, that they were after the project more in favour of scoring and even of mandatory reporting of the scores, in comparison to stakeholders who did not practically take part in the project pilots. This shows that the method creates a high level of self-assuredness.

E-tools for E-schools project targets common problems for the educational systems of EU countries such as the existing gap between available technologies and their application in teaching process. The project aims to equip teachers with practical skills and tools for learning resources preparation and use, and to provide them with wide range of teaching ideas and pedagogical instruments concerning the introduction of ICT. The proposal is focused on an innovative approach for teachers training providing more strategic and integrated use of ICTs and open educational resources that will not only straighten the profile of teaching professionals but will also support the implementation of European Commission Action Plan on Opening up Education.EFES project is transnational initiative that will be implemented in Bulgaria, Italy and Greece by organisations with significant experience in teachers training, methodology development and educational research. The expected project outputs are not nationally limited and their application changes the whole concept of the teaching process as not enclosed in the classroom, stimulate trans-school cooperation and networking. The applicant organisations will systematize best examples of e-learning activities and will jointly develop new training tools, and approbate new and modern way of training, based on blended-learning methodology. The blended or hybrid approach combines online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner and allows flexibility and self-regulation of education without the time and space constraints.Two significant project outputs will remain in use after the lifetime of the project – WebTV and LMS platform. The Web TV will be an e-tool for training teachers how to use ICT in educational process and will combine the best seminar practices, target the existing needs, provide practical examples and templates. This innovative tool will allow unlimited number of teaches to strengthen their digital competences on demand and without any financial constraints. In other words, the WebTV will instruct teachers how to use open source platforms in order to prepare e-lessons for class- and homework. The LMS platform is a learning management system for primary and secondary school teachers based on open source software and divided in different sectors and categories of users. The platform will offer a complete set of services and tools supporting blended learning, such as services for the effective use of multimedia as a powerful learning means, collaborative development of educational templates and learning scenarios reflecting different educational approaches and needs, and services for the creation, management and monitoring of web-based and mobile (location-based) educational assignments.These two intellectual outputs will be applied and tested in three piloting schools - one in Bulgaria, one in Italy, one in Greece. The schools are selected to have good digital provision but limited digital-supported teaching. The piloting stage will provide significant and contextual feedback from the direct target group in each country. The platform and the Web TV will be fine-tuned and improved afterwards and will became more easily accessible and user-friendly. Afterwards, a series of dissemination events are planned in each country in order to popularise the outcomes among the target group and the relevant stakeholders. The final project results will be available in four EU languages – Bulgarian, Italian, Greek and English, and will be adjusted according to the cultural, social and educational context in each country. These products will be integrated in the management and pedagogical framework of the participating organisations. This will not only enlarge the scope of their work but will make the number of the potential users unlimited. In long term perspective, the project goal is to support the ongoing educational reforms in EU countries by providing teachers and students with the skills required by the labour market and the economy, and by mobilizing all stakeholders to change the role of digital technologies at education institutions.